When last we left our Handsome Stranger and the Pig Butcher, she finally found Yan Zheng.
But he still hasn’t revealed his true identity
And Changyu thinks it’s strange he’s getting his own private tent. Sun lies that this is a reward for her help with the flood, and she’s disappointed not to get money. Poor Sun hands her his purse.
Grand Princess takes care of Yan Zheng’s wounds and scolds him for deceiving Changyu. Yan Zheng says he’s only deceived Changyu about his name. But Grand Princess is concerned about their difference in status. Maybe because of her own situation?
Later, Yan Zheng asks Changyu if she worried when she came up this mountain that she wouldn’t make it back down. She didn’t, but he tells her that if the day comes, she should save herself and not worry about him.
There’s no way she’d do that. She promised to take care of him.
Yan Zheng worries she still feels guilty about their fight
That’s not it. When she fell off that cliff (the first time), she was afraid she’d never see him again. She hugs him, telling him she missed him and was terrified he’d die. He needs to not die and come home with her.
He hugs her back and agrees.
While she’s tending his wounds, Yan Zheng gets the feels. He calls her name, and when she looks up, he kisses her. She’s startled, he’s flustered, and then she kisses him back!
Then she says they’re even and leaves.
That night, Changyu is preoccupied remembering the kiss. And worrying about his wounds. She really, really, really doesn’t want him returning to the battlefield.
The next day, the Grand Princess collapses from exhaustion and wakes up in Sun’s arms. He wants her to stop working so hard. She feels that as a ruler, she has to take care of her people.
He calls her foolish and spoon-feeds her medicine.
Yan Zheng tricks Shi Yue into thinking they are out of provisions
Shi Yue’s camp cooks meat so the smell wafts up the mountain, trying to destroy their morale.
Changyu learns Yuanqing is a prisoner there. She, Mr Jin, and the guys rush to where he’s being held. Yan Zheng’s general reluctantly allows Changyu to go in alone to ask Yuanqing why he attacked her village.
It goes as expected. He taunts her with how he abused Ning and murdered the people of the village.
Changyu kidnaps him and drags him to where Shi Yue’s camp can see him. They humiliate and abuse him, then offer him in exchange for meat and grain. While he’s gagged, they expose his… knees.
Yan Zheng sees this happening from a distance. He’s not thrilled.
When they threaten to castrate Yuanqing, Shi Yue sends meat and grain up. But Yuanqing gets the gag out and shouts at them to attack.
Arrows fly, and Changyu and her guys retreat.
They return to camp, triumphant
The Marquis wants to see them immediately, and they think they’re getting rewarded. They are not.
The “Marquis” is one of the generals, reading awkwardly from a script. They’re to be punished for acting without orders. They got the goods, yes, but this is not how army works.
Changyu insists on taking the entire punishment and sparing the others. Then Yan Zheng bursts in and insists on taking the punishment for her.
The punishment is 20 strokes. Changyu is desperate to stop this, but Yan Zheng ORDERS the “Marquis” to do it. Changyu throws herself over his back to take the first blow instead.
Before it hits, the Grand Princess bursts in, insisting on being punished too. She starts to kneel to the “Marquis”, nearly giving the poor guy a heart attack.
So now SUN bursts in, but he’s not asking for any punishment
Apparently, Changyu accidentally foiled a plot by Shi Yue to tunnel into Yuanqing’s prison and free him. So, it was all for the best.
The “Marquis” asks Yan Zheng what he should do. This is silly. Yan Zheng thanks the “Marquis” for sparing them.
That over, the camp is abuzz with tales of Changyu’s heroism, getting meat for her dying husband.
Changyu thinks these rumors are silly, but has realized the danger she was in, and won’t do it again. Yan Zheng is impressed she admits to screwing up. She says she’ll follow the rules. All she wants is to be allowed to beat up Yuanqing later. Yan Zheng agrees to that, and Changyu is amused he’s acting like he has any say in it.
Then she tells him about the old man who helped her. He offers to promote him. Changyu thinks this is funny too.
Yan Zheng, just TELL her.
Of course he doesn’t. But he asks her about what if maybe he were something like a Marquis. Maybe. She thinks anyone would be happy to be a Marchioness. He leaves it at that.
Because of Changyu’s stunt with Yuanqing, battle is now imminent
Shi Yue thinks that they have to attack and get Yuanqing, or he will hold a grudge and kill them later. The goal is to get him back and kill Yan Zheng.
Mr Jin’s youngest guy comes to Changyu to give her his money. If something happens to him, he wants her to take it to his family. Changyu beats him with her fan for even suggesting it. She promises to keep him safe.
As the troops head out for battle, Sun and the Grand Princess have a moment. He gives her a valuable chess manual of his Grandfather’s. She asks him to be careful. He reassures her, and she gives him a big hug. He looks happy.
Yan Zheng’s wound is still bleeding, so Changyu doesn’t want him fighting. But he claims he has a lowly position and won’t fight. And gives her a forehead kiss!
Then she asks him to take care of Ning if she doesn’t come back. Because she’s put Qian’s sleeping powder in his medicine, and he’s out.
I blame him for never telling her his true identity
Mr Jin and his guys are horrified that she’s joining the fight. She explains she won’t let Yan Zheng fight, and if she fights in his place, he won’t be a deserter.
Yan Zheng’s generals recognize her and drag her off. They’re horrified she’s drugged the leader of their army. But they don’t tell her that.
With everything about to start and no time to think things through, the general lets her join them and sends someone to find Yan Zheng.
The battle starts, and it’s brutal. There’s no chance of fighting at first because flaming fireballs are flying through the air, and all they can do is run for cover. When that stops, they charge out to join the fight.
Yan Zheng wakes up, and he’s VERY dizzy. He calls for one of his generals, and is upset to learn Changyu is on the front lines. To get his mind clear, he cuts his hand open.
The fighting is bloody and horrible, and Changyu and the guys are doing their best.
Shi Yue’s general injures one of Yan Zheng’s generals. Changyu rushes in to fight the guy. He’s HUGE. He knocks her around until she spits up blood, but ultimately, she takes him down and kills him.
Everyone is impressed. Plus, now the battle is over.
Also, the Marquis has arrived! Yan Zheng rides in, and FINALLY the truth is out. Seeing him, Changyu cries and runs away. He chases her, pulling her onto the horse in front of him, and riding off.
FINE, that was better than if he’d just sat her down and told her
Remember when Changyu told Yan Zheng that she didn’t think Marquis Wu was horrible, even though people said he butchered cities? What if Yuanqing told her he had similar reasons for attacking her village?
I have to assume Yan Zheng hasn’t killed women and children for no reason, only forcibly conscripted people. There’s some difference there.
Anyway, I’m curious how Changyu’s uncontrollable need to protect Yan Zheng will change now that the truth is out. She’s been thinking this whole time that she has the power, because she has the money, he’s always injured, and he married into the family.
She hasn’t been abusing this power, but she’s been comfortable this way. It’s pretty much the dynamic she seems to have had with her horrible Ex-Fiancee too. She provided for him.
Learning that not only did Yan Zheng lie about his identity, but he’s the one with much higher status, turns everything she gave him into nothing.
Except that’s what caused him to fall for her. I’m hoping that with the reveal of his true identity, she learns this about him and their dynamic. He doesn’t care about her status. He loves that she takes care of him.
Now that she knows who he is, I suspect we will be heading into the whole court politics of it all. But first, where is he carrying her off to?
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